Ingredients:
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 tablespoons lemon pepper seasoning
1 tablespoon ground mustard (ground, like Colman’s)
1 medium red onion, diced
1/2 teaspoon celery seed
3 tablespoons dill pickle relish
1/2 lb pea shoots, blanched and chopped
16 oz warm, slightly over-cooked macaroni*

Directions:
In a small bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, celery seed, vinegar, lemon pepper, mustard, salt, and pepper. In a large bowl, stir together the onion, pea shoots, pickle relish, and macaroni. Refrigerate at least 4 hours before serving, but overnight is best.

*When I was making the Hawaiian-style Mac Salad, I found that slightly overcooking the macaroni and stirring the dressing in warm makes for a much more flavorful macaroni salad, the dressing really seeps into the noodle.

My thoughts:

I always enjoy a good macaroni salad. I think it is because growing up we very rarely ate any food that my mom did not prepare herself and macaroni salad was one of the few things she didn’t make and would pick up at the deli counter or better yet when from the seafood takeout place we’d get fried oysters once a year. YUM. I’ve recreated what I enjoyed as a child before so this time when the yen hit, I thought I’d go classic with a twist.

It’s pea shoot season again and I just happened to have some on hand from my produce delivery and I thought rather than going with carrots and celery, I’d add that for a bit of color and crisp texture. Not to mention the subtle pea flavor and added vitamins or whatever. It looks a bit pale and bland but I also really packed in the flavor with plenty of mustard powder, celery seed and lemon pepper seasoning–no bland salad here!